Pistol rocket



March 28, 1944. R. ANzALoNE PISTOL ROCKET Filed Jan. y12, 1940 lNVENToRTToRNEY.

Q Sv NNJ N B B mn O l 0 Nv nw Nr HQ lt -N A m Patented Mar. 28, 1944PISTOL ROCKET Ralph Anzalone, Oceanside, N. Y., assignor to AerialProducts, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationJanuary 12, 1940, Serial No. 313,580

4 Claims.

This invention relates to rocket flares of the parachute type and hasfor its principal objects the provision of a simple, cheap and safeflare of that character which ls capable of ascending to remarkableheights when discharged from an ordinary hand firearm or pistol.

It is known that heretofore rocket ilares have been devised which wereadapted to release a candle-carrying parachute and these prior rocketflares were capable of ascending -to a height of several hundred feetbefore the parachute was launched therefrom. However, it was necessaryto employ cumbersome ground mortars or the like to propel the rocketflares into the air, since the rocket stick precluded the use of a handrearm or pistol such as is commonly employed for shooting parachuteflares into the air,

Research has led to the development of an im proved rocket flareconstruction which can be propelled into the air from a pistol and whichpossesses all of the advantages of the most efllcient rocket flaresheretofore devised besides having remarkable flight characteristicsnotwithstanding the fact that no guide stick is employed therein.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following description anddrawing forming a part thereof in which latter Figure 1 is alongitudinal vertical section of a rocket parachute ilare embodying theinvention, isolated from the hurtling pistol;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the projectile slug;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the rocket parachute flare;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly broken away of the rocket parachuteflare in position in the launching pistol; and

Fig.5 is a longitudinal elevation of the rocket flare in flight.

Referring to the drawing and the construction shown therein, thereference numeral I designates the cylindrical shell of the rocketparachute flare and 2 the parachute which is packed in the forward endthereof. A flare candle 3, of the type commonly used in parachute signalflares, is secured by a connecting wire 4, whose enlarged looped end 5is anchored therein, to the shroud lines of the chute. Centrallyapertured felt washers 6 and 1 sea] the respective ends of the chamberin which said candle is positioned. A black powder charge 8 which iscentrally apertured, is positioned between the washer 1 and a centrallyapertured clay separator or abutment plug 9 which is interposed betweensaid powder charge 8 and a second powder charge II that is of thecomposition usually employed in rockets. A second clay abutment plug I2seals the rear end of the casing I. A fuse recess I3 is formed in thepowder charge II and said plug I2 for the reception of the fuse I4 whichpreferably protrudes into the bottom oi.' an enlarged terminal recess orignition chamber I5 formed in the plug I2. A waterproof paper protectivecap I6 normally seals the end of the recess I5 while the front end of'the casing I is plugged by a member I l having a rounded nose or tip.

Said casing I is equipped with a guiding device 20, comprising acylindrical sleeve 2l, slidable on the casing I, to which four radialvanes 22 are brazed or otherwise rigidly united, said vanes beingdisposed at intervals along the periphery of the sleeve. The vanes, itwill be noted, also extend in the axial direction of the body I towardits rear or trailing end. A reinforcing band 23 encircles said vanes andis rigidly secured to the respective outer edges thereof. The bead 24 onthe end of the shell or casing I, serves as a stop to prevent theguiding device 20 escaping off the rear end of the casing I while therocket is in i'light (see Fig. 5)

A separate firing plug 30, comprising a shell 3|, a base member 32having a peripheral retaining flange 32', a detonator cap 33 mounted ina central aperture in the base, a powder charge 34 and a closure plughaving a reduced end or nose 36, which latter is adapted to loosely tWithin the terminal chamber I5 of the casing I. Said nose 36 has acentral duct or spark hole 31 formed therein which is normallyhermetically sealed by a waterproof wafer 38 and which duct, upon thedislodgment of the wafer 38, aiords communication between the powderchamber of the plug 30 and the fuse recess I3, thereby admitting-of theignition of the end of' the fuse I4 by the flame or sparks propelledfrom the vpowder chamber when the charge therein is ignited by thedetonation of the cap 33, all in the manner hereinafter described.

The rocket flare is hurtled into the air by means of the well known handgun 0r pistol 40, the same having a barrel 4I with which the casing Ihas a sliding t, a breech 42 which has an annular recess 43 to receivethe flange 32' of the firing plug, a handle 44, hammer 45, a trigger 46having a firing pin loosely mounted therein, and ring plug ejector bar41.

In order to hurtle the improved rocketinto the air, the projectile plug30 is inserted in the pistol in the position illustrated in Fig. 4. Thecasing I, loaded as above described, is then dropped into the barrelfrom the muzzle thereof while the latter is held upright and thereby thenose 33 of the projectile plug will fracture the wafer I8 and penetrateinto the recess Il in which position the rear end of the plug I2, whichis still coated by the residual unbroken ring of the paper wafer I3,will engage the annular front end face of the projectile plug 3B. Theinsertion of the rocket flare into the muzzle of the pistol forces theguiding device 20 forwardly on the casing I into the position shown inFig. 4.

The parts now being assembled in the pistol as aforesaid, the pistol isaimed, usually vertically in order that the rocket will attain itsmaximum height before the parachute is launched, and then the triggerhaving been cocked in the interim, the same is then tripped by squeezingthe same in the usual manner. The tripping of the trigger causes thefiring pin, loosely mounted in the trigger, to detonate the cap,whereupon the powa der charge 34 is exploded, the cap 38 blown away andthe projectile plug 35 is hurtled against the casing I which is therebyexplosively propelled from the barrel 4I, but only after the flame orsparks from theexploded charge have been first propelled through theduct 31 into the fuse recess I3 wherein the instant ignition of the fuseIl is effected. While the amount of the explosive charge which Ipreferably employ in the firing plug 30 is usually merely sufficient toproject the rocket flare and projectile plug 35 some 25 or 30 feetbeyond the end of the pistol barrel. at which point they separate andthe plug drops harmiessly to the ground, nevertheless since the burningfuse lgnites those areas of the rocket powder exposed thereto, it willeffect the progressive explosive combustion of such powder in the Wellknown manner. The reaction from the explosive gases will effect therocket-like propulsion of the loaded casing I, with its guide means,through the air and said latter means will insure the arrowlike flightof such casing until the rocket powder is consumed and there is nofurther propellant action from the gaseous products of combustionissuing through the fuse recess in the plug I2. Simultaneously with suchcessation of flight of the casing, powder charge 8 will become ignitedby sparks from the remnants of the burning rocket powder which travelthereto through duct I0 and thereupon such powder will explode, ignitingthe candle are and explosively propelling into space the disc 1, thecandle, the disc B, the folded parachute and cork I1. Thereupon the pullof gravity upon the candle, which is attached to the shroud lines of thechute, will cause the chute to open in the well known manner, therebysupporting the candle as it soars in the air currents until the same iscompletely consumed.

Preferably the casing I and its guides, as well as the plug 30, areformed of metal, though the same may be formed of plastics, paper orother suitable material.

It will be observed that each wing 22 to the rear of its attachment tothe sliding ring 2| is recessed, as indicated at 22a, so that when thecasing I is inserted into the barrel 4I the recesses will receive thebarrel and the vanes will not impede such insertion but will overlie theexterior of the said barrel, as shown in Fig. 4.

The slidable guide means employed in the improved rocket flare, no? onlyenables me to dispense with a long unwieldy stick, such asis commonlyemployed in ordinary rockets, in order to guide the same in iiight,'butparticularly it servesto permit of the rocket being discharged in themanner herein described to remarkable heights, say from to 1.000 feetdepending on the amount and character of the rocket powder chargeemployed, from a pistol of the type commonly used for dischargingparachutc flares into the air wherein the charge of powder employed inthe propelling slug is relatively small and insumcient to cause anobjectionable kick" when the pistol is fired.

My improved rocket flare is especially important for signalling at seaand in warfare because of the ease with which the parachute nare can beprojected to great heights from a pistol without necessitating a specialmortar or other launching equipment for that purpose.

Various modifications within the scope of the appended claims may bemade in the construction of the rocket flare disclosed herein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire' to obtainby United States Letters Patent is:

1. A projectile adapted to be discharged from a barrel of a tiring piececomprising a body, a portion of which is adapted to be inserted intosaid barrel, means to guide the night of said projectile after itsdischarge from said barrel, said means comprising a support membermovable slidably on said body, guiding vanes attached to said supportmember and extending therefrom laterally and-also in the direction ofsaid body toward its trailing end, said vanes each being recessed in aportion thereof to receive said barrel whereby the vanes extend over andlie exteriorly of the barrel when said body is inserted into the barrel,said support member then lying on a for ward portion of said body andsaid support member, carrying with it said vanes, sliding along saidbody toward the trailing end of the latter upon discharge of theprojectile from said firing piece, and means on said body to limit theextent of such sliding movement.

2. A device, as per claim 1, including reinforcing means encircling saidvanes.

3. A projectile adapted to be fired from a barrel of a firing piececomprising an elongated body, a portion of which is adapted to beinserted into said barrel, means to guide the flight of said projectileafter its discharge from said barrel, said means including a ring membermovable slidably over said projectile, guiding vanes rigidly attached tosaid ring member and extending therefrom laterally and in the axialdirection of said body toward its trailing end, said vanes each having arecess in a portion thereof adjacent the body to receive the barrelwhereby they extend over and lie exteriorly of the barrel when saidportion of said body is inserted into said barrel for firing therefrom,said ring member then lying on a portion of said body ahead of theportion inserted into said barrel, and said ring member. carrying withit said vanes, sliding along said body toward the trailing end of thelatter upon discharge of the projectile from said firing piece, andmeans on said body adjacent its trailing end to limit the extent of suchslide.

4. In a device, as per claim 3, a reinforcing band surrounding saidvanes and attached rigidly to an outer edge of each.

RALPH ANZALONE.

